A new Instant Pot Pro Plus (affiliate link) has arrived and it’s sleek and shiny. I really didn’t want to buy it. My old Duo Evo Plus could still pressure cook and sauté but refused to slow cook. It would get stuck in preheat mode and boil the food — the opposite of slow cooking.
Time for a new model
The Duo Evo Plus gave constant C6H errors when powering off and generally felt like it was giving up. I looked at other brands (with a particular interest in Sage as we’re fans of their espresso machines).
Handles
A non-negotiable was an inner pot with handles. I’ve owned the Duo Evo Plus since 2020; I bought it after reading many reviews that praised the handles. The handles are great. It turns out that handles are quite rare, even from Instant Pot themselves.
The Pro Plus is the only recent model with handles and is no longer available on the Instant Pot website. Amazon is now the sole retailer. I grabbed one while I still had the chance.
Sage got discounted early on as a) no handles, and b) the inner pot is ceramic (Instant Pot uses stainless steel).
Why it’s great to own a pressure cooker
In the 5 years I’ve owned an Instant Pot, the pros have far outweighed the cons, but I’m not convinced by Instant Pot’s build quality. I’m optimistic for the Pro Plus but will update this blog post if any clangers emerge.
A recent pro I discovered and was delighted by (for all models): if you have beans that WILL NOT SOFTEN, even after salting, soaking, slow cooking and boiling, try pressure cooking. My Instant Pot rescued several batches of Nigella’s Cuban Black Beans and has cemented my pressure cooker ownership for life.
I’m in the tiny minority that likes the slow cooker
It’s widely acknowledged that the slow cook function isn’t great but honestly, I get on fine with it. Possibly because I haven’t owned a true slow cooker, which heats from the bottom and sides (the Instant Pot only heats from the bottom).
There are several YouTube videos that talk about the Pro model’s inability to maintain an even temperature. I've found slow cooking to be fine on the Pro Plus.
A customer service rep told me that:
The target temperature is the same for both Low and High modes, the difference is in the time taken to reach this temperature:
Low: 4.5hr to 95C
High: 3hr to 95C
That’s a bit weird, right? I can’t wrap my brain around it. Anyway, my occasional temperature checks have found this to be pretty accurate but I’m not hovering over the pot hourly, noting temperatures in a spreadsheet.
If precision is needed then check out Helen Rennie’s Instant Pot Review video. She advises using the sous vide function to maintain an even temperature throughout the cooking duration.
Some Pro Plus cons
Non-detachable power lead
I audibly groaned when I saw this. I used to keep the lead plugged in on my countertop and would move the Instant Pot to and fro when needed. Our plug sockets aren’t convenient so this worked a treat. The Pro Plus's lead isn’t detachable so it'll now be used on a different, busier, countertop. Change is good and maybe this will be a better location (hmph).
Update: this annoys me quite a bit. The Instant Pot is no longer grab ‘n’ go. And if the cable gets damaged then the Instant Pot is useless. Why remove perfectly good features from newer models?
No manual pressure release switch
A small bugbear. The venting method (natural or quick release) is set via the control panel or app. I miss flipping the switch but I’ll live.
Pros
The app is genuinely useful (for me)
This is my first Wi-Fi enabled appliance. Reviewers have commented that the app doesn’t do much. Having run up and down the stairs countless times to check if my Duo Evo Plus was stuck on preheat, I’m grateful for the app.
It sends status updates to my phone (preheating, cooking, finished, etc) so I can check on the Instant Pot while not being near it.
Sauté levels are slightly more usable
Sauté is incredibly useful if you need to thicken something. The Duo Evo Plus had sauté levels from 1-6 but in reality only 1 and 2 were usable. Take Nigella's Cuban Black Beans, for example. Nothing would happen on 1 but they'd bubble furiously on 2. Leave them for longer than 5 minutes and they'd stick and burn. 1.5 would’ve been perfect.
It’s fractionally better on the Pro Plus. Tiny bubbles on 1, lots of bubbling on 2. I'm pretty sure 6 would melt my countertop.
The Duo Evo Plus inner pot will work in the Pro Plus
ChatGPT emphatically told me that my Duo Evo Plus pot wasn’t compatible with the Pro Plus. I should’ve just checked the Instant Pot website, which shows that the stainless steel pot with handles will fit the Duo Evo Plus, Pro and Pro Plus.
The glass lid is compatible too.
Wrapping up
There’s probably little point in fully reviewing this model as it’s no longer widely available in the UK. I’ll update this post if anything significant comes up, or feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Otherwise, check out some of my favourite Instant Pot recipes.
🇬🇧 Buy the Instant Pot Pro Plus on Amazon UK (affiliate link).
🇺🇸 Buy the Instant Pot Pro Plus on Amazon US (affiliate link).
